June 28, 2011 8:56 p.m. | The Germantown Community Band performs a free concert at 7 p.m. July 6 at Firemen's Park in Germantown. Titled John, Leroy and the Boys, the show features the 75-member ensemble performing the music of John Philip Sousa and Leroy Anderson.

June 27, 2011 10:25 p.m. | The whole overarching scenario felt weird to both of them, but there was nothing but genuine feeling that went into the hug between Nicolet baseball coach Dick Sykes and his long-time assistant turned head coach at Germantown Jeff Wolf, as the pair prepared to do battle in a North Shore Conference game on an achingly perfect Monday evening in Germantown.

The two coaches were entering new phases of their careers. Wolf had served as Sykes' chief assistant at Nicolet for 18 years before taking the Germantown job last fall while Sykes' had to enter a major rebuilding year without someone whom he felt was his conscience and his guide.

"It's just not the same without him," admitted Sykes in a candid moment after Germantown had won 3-1. "Jason (new assistant Grodsky) does a great job and is a great guy, but when you have someone around 17-18 years like Jeff was, well, it was like we were one person."

"I'd ask him a question, and he'd give me the answer that I was thinking myself. I know it's sad, but I was lucky to have him for that long and they're lucky to have him here now. He knows baseball, he knows talent and he'll make the commitment to them."

June 25, 2011 12:19 a.m. | Greater Metro Conference Player of the year and UW-Green Bay scholarship recruit Hailey Mohrfeld of Menomonee Falls was just named first-team All-State by the Wisconsin Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association.

Mohrfeld, the team's shortstop, was virtually unstoppable this season in leading Falls to a 19-2 record and a share of the GMC title.

June 20, 2011 10:49 a.m. | We've just updated our honor roll page with the latest lists of academic achievers from area schools.

The schools updated are: Forest Park Middle School (Franklin), Greenfield Middle School, Homestead High School, Marquette University High School, Martin Luther High School, Menomonee Falls High School, Muskego High School, Oak Creek-Franklin West Middle School, Oak Creek High School, St. Francis High School and St. Matthew School (Oak Creek).

June 15, 2011 2:04 p.m. | Teacher contracts signed by the Menomonee Falls School District, at least for now, are still valid following Tuesday's ruling by the state Supreme Court reinstating the budget repair bill.

According to the district labor attorney Jim Korum, while the lower court's ruling was declared invalid from the start, the budget repair bill, or Act 10, was not declared retroactive.

"It appears all seven justices appear to be of one mind that publication by secretary of state is a prerequisite to effectiveness of the law," Korum explained.

Secretary of State Doug La Follette has said he will publish the law June 28, making it effective June 29. However, Korum believes that may not be the final word on whether or not the budget repair bill was law when it was originally published in late March.

"I believe there is an intellectually honest way to conclude that Act 10 has been in effect since March 26," Korum said.

June 14, 2011 9:37 p.m. | In the deep past when the Baltimore Orioles ruled baseball, it was described as Earl Weaver style.

About a decade ago, coach Mark Rohde and the bombers from Brookfield Central used it to win a WIAA state title.

Now, the brand of baseball that features good pitching, sound defense and the occasional home run is simply known as the "Oak Creek way."

The epitome' of that philosophy Tuesday night in the Knights' impressive 7-1 road win at a good Menomonee Falls squad was senior centerfielder Joey Gribble.

Gribble took away a run-scoring extra-base hit from Indian catcher Corey Volden in the first with a diving catch and then broke the game wide open in the sixth, when he rode a 1-2, two-out curveball from Falls starter Logan August over the leftfield fence at Trenary Park for a grand slam home run.

June 13, 2011 10:38 p.m. | Menomonee Falls - The Menomonee Falls District Wellness Committee intends to set guidelines on acceptable snacks sent to school by parents in a move that would essentially limit the types of acceptable food based on nutritional value.

School nurse Julie Italiano-Thomas and Director of Food Nutrition Ruth Ann Kiley laid out the plan for the School Board on Monday evening. The proposal would be to send a list home to parents explaining what is and is not an acceptable snack to send to school with a student.

If a non-healthy snack is sent with a student, the teacher would send the item home with student along with a letter explaining why that food was not acceptable. After one such incident, the school would provide a snack for the student, but all subsequent violations would result in the student receiving no snack.

The plan would also dictate certain classrooms be nut-free based on student allergies, meaning parents would be alerted to a nut-allergy in their student's class and required not to send snacks containing nuts.

Italiano-Thomas said the list was created from USDA guidelines which encouraged fresh, natural and protein-rich snacks as well as certain types of processed snacks. She added that brands were not a part of the list so that parents wouldn't be saddled with purchasing more expensive items for their children.

June 10, 2011 7:31 p.m. | The Homestead-Germantown WIAA sectional final softball game has been postponed due to wet grounds until 5 p.m. Saturday back at the Kennedy Middle School diamond in Germantown.

The game had originally been scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight but heavy rains this morning drenched the entire metropolitan area making play difficult.

June 09, 2011 12:30 p.m. | Radio talk-show host Mark Belling has filed a criminal complaint against officials with the School District of Menomonee Falls, alleging they violated the Wisconsin Open Records Act by "knowingly ignoring the law by failing to release public records," Superintendent Keith Marty said.

The district attorney has not confirmed to NOW that a criminal complaint has been filed, but NOW continues to seek that confirmation.

Marty said he and School Board President Kathy Shurilla are each named in the complaint by Belling, which alleges the radio host asked Marty on-air the day the contracts were approved by the board if Marty would provide details of those contracts.

Marty declined, creating controversy that led, in part, to the huge turn-out at the School Board meeting that evening.

"Is that a formal request for records? And even if it was, you don't have to immediately release the records," Marty said today in response to the complaint.

June 07, 2011 10:24 p.m. | If it was only Brookfield East versus Germantown Tuesday night in a WIAA sectional softball semifinal, why did former Warhawk coach turned Spartan headman Rich Anderson have to choke back tears after his team's emotional, 3-2, eight inning loss.

It can be safely said, it wasn't because of the outcome of the game.

"What's the word," he said to himself. "Melancholy" And it was a moment later he had to check up and remind himself he was a coach being interviewed after a tough loss.

"I mean it wasn't tough during the game," he said. "It was fun. A great game to be a part of. It's just great to see girls who you coached for so long (at Germantown) make fantastic plays to save the game for them."

The situation wasn't much easier for East turned Germantown co-coach Kurt Raguse.

June 07, 2011 10:42 a.m. | A live bat found on May 31 in the Children's Zoo adventure play area at the Vilas Zoo has tested positive for rabies. The bat was wild and not a zoo animal. Public Health Madison and Dane County reported the positive test.

According to health officials, only people who handled the bat should be concerned. If you were at the zoo in Madison on Monday and if you or your child did pick up, touch, or handle the bat, consult with your family doctor about post-exposure rabies shots.

June 07, 2011 7:00 a.m. | A planned expansion of Woodland Prime office park in Menomonee Falls, and possible village financing for the project, is being considered.

The village Plan Commission, at Tuesday night's meeting, will review a proposal to grant preliminary approval for a tax incremental financing district to help pay for those costs.

With such a tax district, a community will typically borrow money to help finance a development. The project's property taxes pay off that debt over several years. Once the debt is paid off, the property taxes from the new project then flow to the community, its school district and other local governments.

The initial approval only creates boundaries for the district. A project plan, which includes details on how much money would be spent, will come before the Plan Commission and Village Board for consideration later this summer, said Mark Fitzgerald, village administrator.

The 208-acre district would cover remaining undeveloped land at Woodland Prime, which is north of Good Hope Road, between Appleton Ave. and Highway 45, Fitzgerald said.

June 06, 2011 11:59 a.m. | Construction equipment maker Wacker Neuson Corp. plans to expand its Menomonee Falls facility, and the village is considering possible financing assistance for the project.

Wacker Neuson operates a 430,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at N92 W15000 Anthony Ave., in the industrial area north of Highway 45, between Pilgrim Road and Fountain Blvd. The company, which has around 360 employees, plans to add 97,000 square feet, with future expansions planned, said Village Administrator Mark Fitzgerald.

The expansion would require the company to spend an unusual amount of money on site preparation work because of bedrock that needs to be blasted and removed, Fitzgerald told me. So, the village is considering a proposal to help finance some of those expenses, he said.

"We want to be able to accommodate their ability to expand long-term," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said he didn't how many jobs Wacker Neuson would add through the expansion. He said the project does eliminate the possibility that the company will relocate the operation to Michigan.

June 02, 2011 6:56 p.m. | With an 18-game winning streak and an offense that has scored over 10 runs in nine of its last 10 games, the 10th-ranked in state Menomonee Falls girls softball team has not been challenged too much recently.

But after a three-run home run in the third from Kettle Moraine (9-9) put the 19-1 Indians in a 5-1 hole in their WIAA regional final at the Little League Park this afternoon, they had to do some serious introspection and do it in a hurry.

They found their mojo in a team effort and with the help of a six-run sixth inning that snapped the team awake and allowed them to escape with an 11-5 win. With the victory, Falls advances to a WIAA sectional final back at the Little League Park against the winner of Oconomowoc and Hartland Arrowhead on Tuesday (TBA).

The sectional final will be June 10 in Watertown as Falls will be looking for its second state berth tournament berth in three seasons.

"We're in sort of a dichotomy," said Indian coach Wendy Wolff. "We've been winning by a lot of runs lately, so we haven't really experienced any close games recently. And not being in any close games doesn't really help you in a situation like this."

June 01, 2011 10:48 a.m. | Four years after stepping into the role of principal at Magee Elementary School Maria Kucharski has taken a position closer to home at the principal at Amy Belle in Colgate, in the Germantown School District. While Kucharski will end her role as Magee principal at the end of June, she will remain with the Kettle Moraine School District as the Summer Academy Director.

"Four years ago I went through three rigorous and unique interviews and accepted the position of elementary principal at Magee Elementary. Little did I know that over the next few years I would be provided with some of the most exceptional learning and growing opportunities, and that I would work for and with some of the most talented educators I have ever met," Kucharski said in her resignation letter.

Kucharski's decision stemmed from a desire to not only be closer to home, but to also focus solely on her role as principal and a return to graduate school to obtain her curriculum license.

"Magee Elementary is fortunate to have dedicated, passionate and gifted staff members who genuinely care about the students they serve. We are equally fortunate to have parents and community members who support the purpose and vision of our school and who help to make Magee a great place for children to grow and learn," Kucharski said in her letter. "I thank the Kettle Moraine Schools, the teachers and staff … for embracing the charge of transformation, remaining positive in difficult political times, and making a difference for all children. It has been a privilege to work for and with all of you and I hope our paths will continue to cross in the future."

According to Superintendent Pat Deklotz, the process to find the next principal for Magee is under way.